Painted Model 1858 Smoothside Canteen & Mess Plate of William F. Chase, 5th New York Heavy Artillery 

Description

Painted Model 1858 Smoothside Canteen & Mess Plate of William F. Chase, 5th New York Heavy Artillery 

 

Exceptional and extremely unusual matched veteran-decorated display consisting of an original Model 1858 smoothside canteen and soldier’s tin mess plate, both elaborately hand painted with floral decoration and retaining the identification and service record of William F. Chase, Company K, 5th New York Heavy Artillery.

 

The interior of the mess plate is particularly striking. The entire surface was first covered in a rich gold ground and then decorated by hand with large red, white, blue and pink flowers surrounded by green foliage. At the center, the veteran’s identification is prominently painted:

“Wm. F. Chase

Co. K 5th Regt. H.A.

N.Y. Vol.

Jan. 4, 1864

July 19, 1865

Washburn Post

No. 515.”

 

The inscription records Chase’s service in Company K, of the 5th New York Heavy Artillery, together with the dates January 4, 1864 and July 19, 1865, evidently commemorating his period of military service. Below is his later affiliation with Washburn Post No. 515, Grand Army of the Republic. The combination of wartime identification and GAR post affiliation makes it clear that the plate was decorated as a veteran’s commemorative piece rather than simply as a piece of folk art.

 

The accompanying Model 1858 smoothside canteen is decorated in essentially the same manner, with a gold-painted body covered by large freehand flowers, buds, vines and leaves in red, blue, pink and green. The canteen retains its original pewter spout and 2 of three sling loops. Considerable honest wear and scattered losses to the painted surface are present (notably on the opposing side, but enough survives to demonstrate how visually impressive the piece originally was. Most importantly, the decoration of the canteen corresponds remarkably well with that of the identified plate, making the two objects an extraordinarily evocative veteran display.

 

The 5th New York Heavy Artillery was one of New York’s substantial heavy-artillery organizations and served primarily in the defenses of Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and the vital Baltimore & Ohio Railroad corridor before portions of the regiment were drawn into active campaigning during the final phases of the war. Men of the regiment saw considerably more hazardous service than the title “Heavy Artillery” might suggest, including operations in the Shenandoah Valley. Chase’s military record records that he was wounded during his Civil War service, adding considerably to the historical importance of these surviving personal effects.

 

The decoration has the unmistakable character of late-19th-century American veteran folk art: bold gold backgrounds, brightly colored flowers, deliberately prominent service information, and the veteran’s GAR affiliation. Rather than placing Chase’s relics in a conventional frame, these utilitarian objects from the soldier’s era were transformed into colorful memorials to his military service.

 

The age, surface wear and losses to the decoration actually contribute to the appeal. These were clearly not modern decorative pieces but objects that were displayed and preserved for generations. The plate remains especially impressive, with strong color, an unusually complete central inscription and a wonderful untouched veteran character.

 

A rare and highly visual matched Civil War/GAR veteran display, combining two iconic pieces of a soldier’s field equipment with personal identification, regimental history, GAR association, hand-painted folk art, and the service history of a wounded veteran of the 5th New York Heavy Artillery. As a pair, they represent the sort of personalized veteran relic that is encountered only infrequently and would make an outstanding centerpiece in a collection.

 

Inventory Number: IDE 329